Singer comfortable, at peace with her musical journey

November 24, 2006|ROBIN TOEPP Tribune Staff Writer

A singer with a Southern-accented voice and incredible range, country artist Linda Davis was in top form Tuesday while rehearsing "I Have Arrived," one of her favorite songs. The rehearsal is part of preparation for her performance with Kenny Rogers for his "Christmas and Hits" tour that begins with tonight's show at the Morris Performing Arts Center. Women trying to get into country music as singers have never had it easy, but for Davis, the uphill climb is worth the journey. Davis seems to have found a way these days to enjoy the journey, keeping busy touring as both a country music singer and inspirational speaker, acting as spokeswoman for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and, more recently, as performance coach for people attempting to perfect their stage presence. "Nobody took me offstage and said, 'You know how you take that microphone and twiddle it around? Don't do that,' " Davis says of her coaching activities on Monday during a telephone interview from her hotel room in South Bend. "Somebody taking me in, in a kind way, if they just would have said, 'Try to do this instead.' Simple things." The spunky blonde, who is kind and energetic enough to come down off the stage and dance in the aisle with goofy-eyed onlookers during Tuesday's rehearsal, headed for Nashville, Tenn., in 1982 at the age of 19 from her home in East Texas. Her voice has a sweet Southern lilt when she speaks and a traditional country sound when she sings, as opposed to the pop-country frequently heard nowadays. She worked in Nashville for 10 years before her breakthrough recording in 1993 on a duet with Reba McEntire called "Does He Love You," which won a Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Collaboration. Country music was different then, largely because the industry was much less accepting and inviting toward women performers other than a few standout female artists, such as McEntire, Pam Tillis and the Judds."There wasn't so many places to gain experience from back then. Now they've got karaoke and places for them to go and have fun," Davis says. "What a great place to cut your teeth and hone your skills." And the young women today have those that have paved the way, young women such as Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Nettles and LeAnne Rimes. "I call it Performance 101," Davis says. "We try to make them better and have more confidence, and that's a way for me to give back because when I was coming up there was no one for me to go to." Davis is often described as a song stylist who started out as a backup singer and an advertising jingle artist. To her credit, Davis seems to be in a comfortable place emotionally today despite -- alluded to in only the vaguest of ways by Davis -- certain disappointments from never having scored a hit single of her own. However, she did have country/Christian crossover success with the 2004 release "I Have Arrived," which featured a single by the same name that climbed to No. 5 on the Christian music charts. It's a song that seems to pick up the thread of the thought that she is at peace with the hand of cards that life has dealt: So many years I've tasted tears/prayed for all the pain to go away/and I've learned to live with things that I cannot change/but I have arrived. "When I was little, I would dream of singing. I can't remember not wanting to be a singer. I am always running towards it," Davis says. "I think maturity has a way of humbling us and making us realize that it's what we give back, and it's what other people get out of life."